Educated Youth in the Countryside: She is the Village's Embroidery Queen!-Chapter 454: The Terrifying Question

Old Lei grumbled, "Would I be so shocked by something you all know how to do?"

"We’re only just able to do it, can’t say we’re skilled."

Madam Lei praised, "Well, my Old Lei is quite skilled."

Old Lei, being praised, had a sour face, wanting to say that it’s nothing to be proud of.

However, he didn’t dare to say it.

His wife’s temper wasn’t great, and she was fierce when scolding him.

He couldn’t afford to offend her, truly couldn’t.

So, he kept his mouth shut.

Wen Shi and the others noticed his silent anger and reluctance to speak, worried the couple might start quarreling, so they pulled him into a conversation about training.

As a result, the people in the yard once again split into two groups.

One group chatted about military topics, while the other discussed sewing.

Zhou Sisi and Wei Qiang crouched beside Yi Chichi, watching her mend clothes without blinking, occasionally asking when she’d be done and if she’d make them fabric dolls as soon as she finished.

Yi Chichi, in good humor, said she’d sew for them after she finished, but they needed to do a bit of work first.

The two kids eagerly asked what work.

Yi Chichi laughed, "Go get some sand."

Zhou Sisi asked, "What do you need sand for?"

"To stuff your dolls."

The ugly doll Wei Qiang made was stuffed with reed fluff, which gets squashed with the slightest pressure and can’t be fluffed up.

Cotton would be a great stuffing material, but in this era, saving up cotton was difficult, so it couldn’t be used for dolls.

Sand was a good choice; as long as the stitching was tight, there was no worry about leaks.

The feel was also nice.

Zhou Sisi’s eyes lit up, "Isn’t that just a sandbag?"

Wei Qiang also looked at her with bright eyes, "Auntie, if we bring more sand, can you make us a fabric doll and also sew us a sandbag?"

Zhang Qiao Zhen’s eyes widened, "Where’s your previous sandbag?"

What kind of kid is this, not knowing how to be polite at all.

Clearly, there were sandbags at home, so why was he eyeing a new one?

Wei Qiang sighed, "Mom, your memory is really poor. I told you a long time ago that the sandbag was torn and asked for your help to mend it. You always agreed but immediately forgot."

Everyone looked towards Zhang Qiao Zhen, who paused, recalling that there indeed was such an event.

However—

"I remembered later to mend it, but couldn’t find your sandbag."

"Because it was torn."

Wei Qiang explained methodically, "You never had time to mend it for me, so I thought I’d do it myself, but the more I tried, the worse it got, so I had to throw it away."

Zhang Qiao Zhen suddenly understood, no wonder she couldn’t find the sandbag later.

"Come on, I’ll go with you to dig for sand."

"Alright."

So, the three excitedly ran off to dig for sand.

When they came back with a bag of sand, Yi Chichi had already mended Old Wei’s clothes and started sewing with the fabric scraps brought by Zhang Qiao Zhen and the others.

The fabric scraps were of various materials and colors.

After sorting, she chose black and white scraps to piecemeal the body, and then started crafting the ears, paws, and ears and such.

At first, people couldn’t figure out what she was sewing, puzzled by the black and white colors.

Until—

"Wife, you’re sewing a panda, aren’t you?"

Wen Shi’s sudden comment gave the confused crowd a revelation-like moment.

The ears, body, and color scheme, they all screamed panda.

Yi Chichi hummed, "Among the scraps, black and white are the most common, anything else wouldn’t fit."

Old Li expressed concern, "Will the kids like it?"

Old Zhou didn’t think it was an issue, "Our daughter isn’t picky, she’ll like anything as long as it’s a doll."

Everyone, "..."

This guy didn’t say that before; the Zhou family girl clearly wanted a doll she could braid, not a panda.

But since the dad had spoken, they decided to wait and see the kids’ reactions when it was done.

As it turned out, black and white creatures had a unique charm.

Especially pandas, with their round chubby bodies and cute demeanor, they were fresh and fascinating for Wei Qiang and the others who had never seen a panda before.

Plus, Yi Chichi had excellent craft skills, and the panda doll, once filled with sand and sealed up, was incredibly cute.

Just as Zhou Sisi reached out to take it, she smiled and refused, "Hold on, it’s not done yet."

As she spoke, she went inside and came back out with pens and paints.

Then, under the curious gazes of everyone, she squeezed out paint, mixed colors, and used a brush to add highlights to the black fabric to enhance the eyes.

She painted teeth on the blank space of the mouth.

After the final stroke, she put down the brush, took the doll, and asked, "See if you like it."

The panda, adult-hand-sized, with a round chubby body and plump ears, filled with sand and supported by stiff fabric strips, made them pleasantly plump and upright on the head, inviting people to pinch and feel it.

The originally dull black eyes sparkled after highlighting, giving them a lively expression.

The painted teeth, because of the shape of the mouth, didn’t look fierce but rather appeared to smile.

The two kids’ eyes sparkled as they eagerly declared their liking.

Old Li and the others were even more amazed and told Wen Shi, "Your wife’s craft skills are impressive."

This panda doll was wonderfully crafted, not only kids liked it, but adults did too.

"Could your wife make me a tiger?"

Wen Shi turned to Old Zhou, who requested the tiger, "What’s so good about a toy tiger? If you want to see, see a real tiger instead."

This left everyone speechless.

"There are no tigers on the island."

Wen Shi puffed out his chest proudly, "There are my in my hometown. If you have time in the future, I’ll take you to see real tigers."

He wouldn’t let his wife make a tiger toy for them; not even a sliver of a chance.

Just entertain the kids; don’t think about anything else.

Everyone, "..."

This guy really went all out to keep his wife from working.

Now he’s even suggesting they feed themselves to tigers.

Is that something to mess with?

However—

"Are the tigers in your hometown fierce?"

"The reputation of Northeast tigers, I thought you knew, a full-grown male weighs five to six hundred pounds."

As he said this, he glanced at everyone around, "None of us here could withstand a slap from it."

"Then we won’t see them."

They cared for their lives.

They could accept a mission sacrifice, but couldn’t accept being slapped to death by a tiger for a foolish reason like wanting to see a tiger.

Wen Shi responded with an ’oh’, seeing Zhou Sisi and the others madly praising Yi Chichi, their words as sweet as if soaked in honey, he felt a crisis coming on.

His wife was smiling like a blossoming flower from the praise, and if Zhou Sisi and the others kept on, he’d soon run out of words to praise his wife.

So, he checked the time, "Sisi, have you finished your homework?"

What a terrifying question!

The two kids, whose faces were about to crack from smiling, felt as if a ghost had appeared when they heard him.

Instantly in shock, they exchanged fearful glances and then—

"Ahhhh, we haven’t done our homework yet..."

"Go go, quickly go home and do your homework."

The parents were anxious, grabbing the children and running home.

Old Zhou and Old Wei were even more outrageous, as they fled with the kids, they remembered to pull some money from their pockets to give to Wen Shi, saying it was Yi Chichi’s labor fee.

They wouldn’t allow any refusal.

Truly well-mannered.